From the hundreds of thousands of books published this year, the indie bookselling community has gleaned an impressive 2008 Indie Next Highlights List [4], featuring great fiction and nonfiction that has garnered especially strong support from ABA members nationwide. The list includes 51 titles, as well as an additional eight selections that will be available in paperback in early 2009.

The 2008 Indie Next List Highlights List will be shipped to stores in the November Red Box mailing.

This year's Highlights List has been reformatted, featuring the four-color, engaging visual presentation that characterizes the Indie Next List. The titles selected range from The Story of Edgar Sawtelle to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society; In Hovering Flight to City of Thieves; Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World to Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex; and The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine to America Eats! On the Road With the WPA -- the Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin Feasts That Define Real American Food.

"While this is certainly a challenging holiday season for all retailers, consumer surveys have again shown that shoppers rate books very highly as a gift purchase," said Dan Cullen, ABA's senior director of editorial content. "This Indie Next List of the year's outstanding titles gives booksellers a very powerful tool to work in conjunction with effective marketing and handselling."

See this week's BTW for an important update on targeted IndieBound marketing materials for the holidays [5], and check out BookWeb's full range of materials on Bookselling in Tough Times [6].